Housley court date rescheduled
Vincent Wayne Housley, who pleaded guilty Feb. 23 to charges of killing his parents in their Panther Lake home after an argument with them about his drug use, had his sentencing hearing rescheduled for May 29.
King County Superior Court Judge Andrea Darvas granted a continuance request Thursday from defense attorney Rick Lichtenstadter. Housley had been scheduled to be sentenced Friday at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. Lichtenstadter did not return a call Friday for a comment on the reason for the continuance request.
Housley, 43, is slated to go in front of Darvas at 9 a.m. May 29 in Courtroom 4H. King County deputy prosecutor John Castleton has recommended a sentence of 55 years in prison for Housley. If convicted, Housley could face a minimum of 44 years in prison.
Housley pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the Feb. 1 slaying of his father and mother, Joe and Karen Housley, in their home in unincorporated Kent. Housley told police he was high on cocaine when he committed the act.
Plea entered in immigration-fraud charge
A 41-year-old Kent man pleaded guilty April 28 in U.S. District Court in Seattle to conspiracy to commit immigration fraud.
Steven Mahoney operated Mahoney and Associates, an immigration-consulting business in Kent, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office media release. Mahoney faces up to five years in prison.
He is slated to be sentenced Aug. 21 by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from October 1998 through June 2007, Mahoney counseled, advised, and prepared immigration applications for immigrants seeking legal status in the United States. During that time, Mahoney admitted, he filed up to 99 false immigration documents seeking legal status based on asylum claims.
The false applications stated that applicants were seeking asylum because if they were returned to their home countries, they would be targeted and abused because they were homosexual, or would be tortured due to their religious practices or political views.
Mahoney coached the applicants regarding how to pursue immigration status based on the false claims. Applicants paid Mahoney between $1,000 and $4,000 for each of the falsified applications.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement strives to protect the integrity of our nation’s immigration system by investigating those who engage in this type of fraudulent and illegal activity,” said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of ICE’s Office of Investigations in Seattle, in a media release.
“ICE will continue to identify, arrest and bring to justice those who are involved in these types of schemes.”
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